Today, the Bible & You

Our missionary outreach is one of the most important functions of Today, the Bible & You.  We currently have a growing work with schools and orphanages in India, Myanmar (Burma), and Bangladesh. We also support native missionaries in the Philippines and India.  We have recently purchased a radio station in Peru which broadcasts godly teaching and music 24 hours a day.

 

So many demands for our Mission workers in NE India

 

Radios are the “portable missionaries” because

they can reach every place. 

 

(Station manager Segundo, wife Dorliss and daughter Ellen pictured)

Segundo Vasques’ day begins before dawn when his transmitter kicks on at 5 am and starts broadcasting programs to the rural residents beginning their day.  The farmers outside of town requested the pre-dawn broadcasts and carry small portable radios with them all day to listen to Radio Rosa de Saron.  Many times during his day he is interrupted by people bringing in announcements to be broadcast.  And it often doesn’t end until well into the evening as he sits in the yard by the radio station counseling people who come by seeking help after hearing a program on the radio. 

Segundo, his wife Dorliss and daughter, Ellen have also been reaching out in the community with great success.  They have established regular Bible studies on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sundays.  They have a Sunday school class for children that is growing quickly.  As such, there is a huge need to build a chapel in order to accommodate the many new people who the Lord is bringing. 

Segundo Vasquez knows the needs of this community.  “We are like people everywhere, we have alcoholism, crime, thievery, marital infidelity, poverty, unemployment” he said.  “But most of all, our people have spiritual needs.”

Segundo knows the impact that Christian radio has on his community.  “Using the radio is profound.  People may be in church for two hours a week, but they have the radio with them all day”, he explained.  “Also, illiteracy is a big issue here and radios are the ‘portable missionaries’ because they can reach every place and can minister to those who cannot read.  They also reach those places that do not have churches.”

By the grace of God, the Voice of the Rose of Sharon has gained an enormous audience.  We thank each one of you for your continued prayers and support for this very important work of faith.  May God bless you richly.  

 

SPECIAL NEED: SUNDAY SCHOOL MATERIALS

Dear Bro. John Barela,

We greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Our fervent prayers for you is that you will receive the richest blessings of our God.  These past few months, we have seen God’s hand with the listening audience of the Voice of the Rose of Sharon.

We have been diligently improving the radio station and our apartment in the building.  We do something every day and many of our neighbors are very happy for us.  We have also built a very small place to meet with the children who come to be taught about Jesus and the Word of God.  Even some of the parents have started to come and have been very eager to learn.  We now have about 15 adults and 20 children.  Our Lord has been so faithful to us and His work here.

This past month, my wife Dorliss traveled to Picota to bring the radio console you brought when you were here last time.  No one has been able to bring it to us since that time.  The clock timer we have been using stopped working and we are in need of another one.  

Pastor John, we beg of you and your friends to pray for the many needs we now have for Bible teaching materials for the adults and children that have been coming.  We have no Sunday School material whatsoever, and need some very badly. We have just been reading the Bible and teaching what we know. We want to know more. Please pray with us for this precious work among the many children, and now also for the parents who have also started to come.  There is no place here where we can find any Sunday School materials.

We also request for you and your many friends to ask our Lord to open the hearts of the children and adults to understand the precious teaching they are receiving.  Please continue to pray for the people who are learning what it REALLY means to be a Christian. They need your prayers just as I do.

We are hoping that you will be able to visit us again soon Bro. John.  The place we have been meeting here is so small and we are beginning to have many people attend our services.  We are in great need of a chapel where they can worship God and keep learning more about Him.  We have told the people that you are praying with us that God will make this possible.    Please receive my big hug in Jesus.  Our prayer for you is that our Lord Jesus will bless you.

Segundo Vasques.

 

 

 

BIBLES BY CANOE

Carlos is one of the special workers we met in Peru.  He takes Bibles, hymnals and song books to places no one else can go or wants to go.  The only way he can get to these places is by dugout canoe, which takes a lot of time.  Carlos has been so faithful in this work for many years now and lives on very meager means.  When Pastor John was in Peru in March 2009, Carlos accompanied him into the heart of the Amazon River valley.  Carlos distributes all kinds of Christian literature to individuals and churches.  Most of them are not able to pay much if anything, yet he still feels obligated to give it to them for whatever they can pay.  Your support will enable him to purchase more of everything and be free to spend more time and go into more places.

 

 

 

 

The Rose of Sharon Schools and Home is located in Nagaland, India.  This is situated at the NE corner of India along the Burma border.  The people there are extremely poor tribal people.  Free education at the Rose of Sharon Christian Schools and Home is being provided to all poor and needy students.  They come from various religious backgrounds such as Muslim, Hindu, Christian and Animist (spirit worshipers).  They are all taught in the English language and have Bible classes, attending chapel services as well. Many abandoned children and orphans are also brought regularly so that they may be cared for properly.

 

Rejoice Kamei, the director of the school has informed me that there is a special need to assist about 25 – 30  children who are not able to pay for their school needs. The annual cost for the school uniform and books is $125, or just over $10 per month.  There are many children in the area who are orphaned, whose mothers are widows or whose parents are too poor to even pay for the basic books and uniforms.  This provides us with the opportunity to have a special part in the success of a young child.   The school is simply not able to cover the expenses involved in purchasing the books and uniforms for these children.

 

We are so grateful God has allowed us to have a small part in making a difference in the lives of these children.  There are now 253 students who attend the Rose of Sharon School.  32 students and teachers live in the compound.  There are more students who are waiting to start school as soon as facilities are available.  Our projected goal is to complete facilities that will accommodate 1,000 students.  The classes provided include Kindergarten A & B;  a grammar school and a high school up to 10th grade.  In Asia, high school only goes up to 10th grade, then only those who wish to attend college go to college preparatory school.   Presently, there are 16  fully qualified teachers who are all of the same tribal background and are able to relate to all of the students.  There are no foreign teachers at all.

 

Pray for the primary need at this present time: A CHAPEL  -  The largest room at the present time is a 16 x 60 room which cannot accommodate the 253 students for the chapel gatherings.  The School is expecting to have about 350 to 400 students this year.  Please pray  for this very important need.  A basic building will cost approximately $15,000.  Your gift could change someone’s life forever!

 

 

 

My name is Rejoice Kamei.  I am the director of Rose of Sharon Christian Schools and Home in Nagaland, India.  My wife Jenny and I have a daughter Ruth.  I am from the village of Ranjon, Manipur, in the northeast part of India. I was born into a non-Christian family, but when I was about four years old my Dad accepted the Lord Jesus Christ.  My family life has really changed, especially for my Dad, he was really convicted of his sins and it really changed his life.  He was a government teacher which, in India is a much desired job because you will be able to support your family well for the rest of your life.  But instead of keeping the job, he felt he must resign and work as a full time servant of the Lord, preaching the Good News which he had just received and change other peoples’ lives.  So he quit his job and worked as a traveling evangelist going from place to place sharing the Gospel. This brought a financial hardship to our family.  He started at about 250 rupees (about $7-8 a month.) Things got very tough, yet my Dad felt he must give me the best education possible, and not just a good education but a Christian education. So in spite of the hardship, he wanted me to go to a boarding school called Bethany Christian High School which was in another district in the state of Manipur.  The admission fees were about 500 rupees and the boarding fee was about 250 rupees.  Even though he knew it would be difficult for him, he trusted the Lord and sold all the stuff that he had to give me the education he wanted me to have.  We struggled in that way but God was so good in providing all my needs in one way or the other.

 

After my final exams for high school, I attended a short Bible training in my village. There God gave me a desire to attend Bible College and become a servant of God like my Dad.  I attended South India Baptist Bible College for six years, finished my MD at the same college and started serving the Lord right away as a church planter.  Because of the financial hardships my family endured because my Dad was an evangelist, I felt that God was leading me to go further in my studies and He opened a way to come to the United States to study. He also gave me a desire to open a school for Christian mission workers’ children so that they could afford to get a Christian education and follow in their parent’s footsteps doing the Lord’s work. 

 

Most children whose parents are mission workers are not willing to follow in their parents’ footsteps because of the financial hardship they have endured.  My dad has been supported by my mom and their kids.  It is a very hard situation for any family.   Support is given by the local church but not enough to financially support the whole family.  There has been a very wrong interpretation of scripture in Nagaland that mission workers must suffer in all ways, whether it be financially, physically, mentally, spiritually or through persecution. They must suffer to receive a blessing from God.  They feel the pastor doesn’t have to have good pay or even enough to support his family.  Many churches in our area still believe this teaching.

 

Because of my childhood hardship, my desire was to open a school for kids of mission workers, pastors and evangelists to get the best Christian education the school could offer so they could become whatever God had planned for them – either in a secular job or as a Christian worker – and still know the Lord Jesus Christ, support their family and also have a ministry to others.   In the long-term, giving these kids the best secular education plus the best Christian education and teaching the Scriptures will impact more people in the future.  It will be a blessing to these kids to have a good education which will give them a better chance at having a good job and being able to better support their families.  They can be a witness wherever they go, in the office or anywhere.  It will also bless their church and people around them.  That has a much greater impact than supporting one evangelist or one Christian college student.  

 

This is why we started the Rose of Sharon Christian Schools and Home.  God has been helping us along with the support of Today, the Bible and You.  All of my family is also involved in the school.  My Dad is helping in management, my brother is the principal, my younger brothers and sisters are teaching in the school and taking care of the residential students and the orphanage.  We pray that God will provide all the needs for the schools, especially building of the chapel which is very much needed.  Without it, we are not able to have one chapel service with everyone in attendance.  The room we are using as a chapel is much too small for everyone to fit in at once.  We are still praying for it and believe that God will provide all our needs in His time.

 

One of our greatest needs we currently have is a tractor.  The school is on about 100 acres, but we cannot cultivate it without a tractor.  With the use of a tractor, we could provide all the rice and vegetables and mustard (to make mustard oil for cooking) needed for the school.  It will cost us about $12,500 but the bank requires us to put a $4,000 down payment on it.  It will cost us $300 a month for 5 years. It will not be possible with our current financial condition because the school is non-profit.  But if we are able to farm and support the school, we will be able to educate more students and take care of more mission workers’ kids – possibly as many as 100 children.   With a tractor, we will be able to produce about 10,000 kilos of rice (about 20,000 pounds) and that will be more than enough to feed about 100 students.  Right now, one kilo of rice has gone up in price from 14 rupees last year to 17 rupees this year which makes it much more difficult for us to support the school.  We pray that God will provide all the tools to cultivate the entire farm.  

 

One need which is of importance is a dependable car to use for emergencies.  Recently, one of our staff needed to go to the hospital and had to take a taxi which is very expensive.  A good dependable car would be a great asset.

 

In December, we finished the boys’ dormitory and the dining hall and kitchen and surrounding areas.  We also expanded the kitchen and storeroom building by adding a second floor which will be living space for me, my wife Jenny and our daughter Ruth. 

 

The children at the Rose of Sharon Christian Schools and Home will soon take their quarterly exams.   The 10th grade (which is the highest grade in high school) is taking their final exams for the year which are given by the government of Nagaland.  These exams will determine the quality of the school and the teachers.  Please pray for the children and their exams.  It is crucial that the students do their best. 

My younger brother is training to become a qualified principal according to the government of Nagaland.  We have another principal coming by the 1st of April and an additional teacher was hired the middle of March for teaching computers.  He is a graduate of one of the most respected computer institutes in India.

 

Thank you for your continuing prayers and support. 
Rejoice Kamei

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The SMO is coming to the end of it’s 30th Anniversary thanking God’s people everywhere for the support for this work of faith.  The goal of  SMO is to reach every school throughout the whole Philippines with the gospel of Jesus Christ, to disciple and train them to become fruitful Christian leaders.   [pictured is The Youth Conference of SMO, Philippines --  John Barela is front center with white shoes]
Many of these young people are now leaders in their respective churches, some have been called to serve the Lord in full-time ministry.  Others have been pioneering or pasturing churches in the Philippines.  Some are serving as SMO workers and staff.  There was a timewhen the Bible was not allowed to be taught in most schools.  However, in recent years the Lord has been pleased to opened doors  through the SMO-Moral Values Program, which is fully accredited officially by the office of the Philippine ombudsman.  With this program, SMO is now welcome to conduct the Moral Values Seminar in schools throughout the 7,000 Philippine islands.  Good relationships have been established with school authorities whereas even school officials and teachers have participated in these students.  Regular schedules have been provided to conduct lectures on the dangers of smoking, drug-addiction, alcoholism, pre-marital sex, and much more.  Many of the teachers have given testimony of God’s power in moving, convicting, delivering, and changing the lives of many young people.  As a result, requests and invitations from different schools nationwide are extended to SMO.  The demand to reach every school has been great, with the only problem is having sufficient personnel to fulfill all the requests.  With this  growing need, SMO has established a Bible training school that will train future youth workers to reach the youth of the Philippines.  Several training centers have opened in different parts of the Philippines -  Mindannao,  one in Palawan, one in Bicol and the rest in Bacolod City.